Tag Archives: Chicago

Hi Everybody! Time for a new Top 40 countdown! This week, we are Returning to 1989. This is one of the last countdowns that I would have heard before I left for Navy Boot Camp, and be cut off from all pop culture for a couple of months. This should be an interesting week. Some of these songs were new to the countdown, and they would be big hits as I was graduating boot camp. Other songs had been out for a bit, so I knew them very well. And of course there are songs that were new to the countdown, but would not last long, and would be gone by the time I left boot camp. So, let’s Return to the week ending February 11, 1989, and begin the countdown!

Also, you can click on the song title to listen to/watch the video on YouTube, and you can click on the album cover to get the song from Amazon.

This Bangles smash hit broke into the Top 40 right here. This ballad would eventually top the charts. After topping the charts with “Walk Like an Egyptian”, this song helped the Bangles be only the third all-female group to score multiple number-ones in the United States, after the Supremes and the Shirelles.

This was the second single released from the Up Your Alley album (after “I Hate Myself for Loving You”). This is one of those awesome songs that I had forgotten about. It has that classic late ’80s/early ’90s rock sound. It had peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Time to sound like a broken record…this is another one I vaguely remember. This was not as a big a smash as Minogue’s cover of “Locomotion”, but it is still a decent throwback to late ’80s pop. Kylie Minogue is still releasing new music to this day. She just released her 14th studio album, Golden, last year. Her single, “Dancing“, was a #1 hit on the U.S. Dance charts.

I remember this song, but didn’t realize it was from the ’80s. This was released from Vanessa Williams’ debut album, The Right Stuff, and was her first top 40 and first number-one hit on the Billboard R&B chart, where it stayed at the top of the chart for two weeks.

Unless you lived under a rock in the late ’80s, you know this song. It was Poison’s biggest hit, staying at the top of the chart for 3 straight weeks. I loved it when it was first released. But, it got exhausting hearing it everywhere all the time. Of course, some of that was self-inflicted, as I had the 45 of this song. After keeping my distance for a while, I do enjoy going back to this.

I always loved this song, from the great Chicago 19 album. I don’t remember the version from this video. There seems to be a lot of electric guitar in it, which is pretty cool. From September ’88 through this time of February ’89, I had a job working for the newspaper The Providence Journal. I would deliver papers for paper routes that did not have any paperboys. After that, I would go back to the office, and go back out and bring newspapers to people that called in, saying that they didn’t get their paper. So, while I was driving around delivering papers, Chicago 19 would be in heavy rotation in my car. Any of those songs immediately bring me back to that time.

Sadly, Bobby Brown is known more for his problems, including the train wreck involving the relationship between him and Whitney Houston. We forget how huge a star he was at this time in the late ’80s though. This song was a #1 hit. The album from which it came, Don’t Be Cruel, topped the Billboard 200 album charts, and spawned 5 top 10 hits. It was the best selling album of 1989.

That wraps up today’s list of songs. What do you think so far? What were you doing at this time in 1989? Also, feel free to email me a long distance dedication to Returnto80s@gmail.com. We’ll be back tomorrow, to continue the countdown.

Welcome back to this week’s countdown! I hope you are all enjoying it so far. Here are some famous quotes from 1988. Can you guess who made them:

“Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy”

“Read my lips: no new taxes”

“Just do it”

“It’s everywhere you want to be”

“I’m not bad- I’m just drawn that way”

Now let’s Return to the week ending November 5, 1988 and continue the countdown. Don’t forget, you can click on the song title to get the YouTube video, and you can click on the album cover to get the song from Amazon. Now, on with the countdown!

Chicago is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I could not get enough of this song. This power ballad, written by Diane Warren, is Chicago’s largest selling single. It topped the charts for two weeks, matching the chart success of the group’s “If You Leave Me Now” (1976) and “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (1982).

This mashup of Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird” will soon top the charts (December 3, 1988). Kudos for taking two overplayed classic rock songs, and making them fresh again. Only to become overplayed itself. I’m liking it again, 30 years later.

Welcome to a new episode of Return to the 80s! This was a hard fought battle to get this posted. Del and I had recorded another episode a week before this one, and it did not come out at all. So we had to have a do-over, and Robert was able to join us this time. In case you are wondering who Del is…he’s the one giving you the Remember That Song every day. He also hosts an 80s radio show, which we discuss in this episode.
Speaking of this episode, we each had gone to a concert, which we discuss in this episode.

– Welcome Del Roehling from 80s at 8 on 91.1 WEDM FM, and from the legendary Return to the 80s, “Remember That Song” fame
– Stream WEDM at 8am on Saturdays and Sundays for Del’s show, 80s at 8
– Paul misses Def Leppard and Journey at Fenway Park
– Robert’s review of Rick Springfield, and Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo
– Del’s review of the band, Yacht Rock Review
– Paul’s review of Chicago and REO Speedwagon, and the great Chicago controversy

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Welcome back to this week’s countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11. This has been a great week of music so far, and it continues today. It was so good, that we will be coming back with another countdown next week, with a twist! We will Return to the top 40 countdown for the week of March 6-12, from the UK! I know there is a huge following here of folks from the U.K. So they will get to relive their past, and 80s fans from the U.S. may discover music that did not make it over here for one reason or another. But first thing’s first. Let’s Return to the week ending February 28, 1987, and check out the top 10 songs of this week.

Peter Gabriel had some groundbreaking videos in the late ’80s. Which means that they were on MTV every other song. Which also means that I couldn’t stand it! I was dreading listening to this again, but now I’m liking it a little more.

Between this, and Janet Jackson’s “Let’s Wait Awhile” earlier in the countdown, all we need to do is substitute Samantha Fox’s “Touch Me” with Jermaine Stewart’s “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off”, and we would have a perfect countdown for a Catholic school dance.

Bon Jovi had a huge hit with “You Give Love a Bad Name”. But, this ’80s anthem is the one that changed them forever. When you say the words “’80s music” to somebody, this is one of a handful of songs that would immediately come to mind. This is totally deserving of the #1 spot, and a great way to end the countdown.

That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed this countdown. Please let me know your thoughts. And as I mentioned earlier, we will be coming right back next week with the UK Top 40 from 1983. Until then, Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.

Hey Everybody! Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 40-31, 30-21 and 20-11. When I began this week, I had no idea that this would be one of the best, if not THE best countdown I’ve covered so far. Let’s see if this streak continues today. Let’s Return to the week ending January 19, 1985, and wrap up the countdown.

Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown!!! If you missed the first installment, you can go ahead and check out songs 40-31. With the help of MTV, there are a lot of classic songs from this time. And today’s selection has plenty of classics, and even some lost hits. So, let’s Return to the week ending November 27, 1982, and continue the countdown!

This was the first of 2 Top 40 hits by The Clash. According to Songfacts, when this became a hit, Joe Strummer considered leaving The Clash. He couldn’t justify singing rebellious songs when the band was rich and successful. In their early years, when they were struggling, their music was sincere, but he felt they were becoming a joke.

When the band broke up in 1985, it was speculated that their plan all along was to break up once they had conquered America, a feat that was achieved by “Rock the Casbah” becoming such a huge hit along with “Should I Stay or Should I Go?.”

Previously unreleased, producers just assumed this would be a hit, and included it on Fogelberg’s Greatest Hits album. Luckily, they were right, and it peaked at #23 on the U.S. charts, and #29 in Canada.

as the band’s highest charting hit in the UK, peaking at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. It would peak at #18 on the U.S. charts. On the album, this song is listed as “The Look Of Love (Part One),” with the last track being a short version of the song called “The Look Of Love (Part Four).” What happened to parts two and three? They appear on the 12″ single along with the others. Part Two is an instrumental, and Part Three is a remix.

Chicago was fading away after having incredible success in the ’70s. Then producer David Foster came along, and kicked them back into high gear, giving them a huge comeback with Chicago 16. This was the second single released from the album. Most of their hits in the ’80s were ballads, including this one. However, I would highly recommend listening to any of their full albums. They have so much more great music that you may not know about.

Forgotten hit of the ’80s. This was released from their self-titled debut album. It would be the first of 2 hits for the band (“Dreamin’ Is Easy” was the other). This was a staple on MTV in the early days. Then again, in those early days, any music video was a staple.